Media network AwesomenessTV has been bought by Viacom.

AwesomenessTV has a reach of 158 million subscribers and around 300 million monthly views.

The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed, however a report suggested that the deal was well below $300 million.

The digital media company was co-founded by Brian Robbins who is currently in the position of President of Paramount Players at Viacom, alongside Joe Davola. The connection Robbins has with Viacom is likely to have helped ignite the talks about the acquirement.

New horizons

Prior to this deal, Comcast and NBCUniversal held a 51 per cent stake in the company. Other stakeholders include Hearst and Verizon.

Viacom’s interest in AwesomenessTV narrows down to its ability to attract younger viewers who are growing up watching YouTube and not traditional TV. This group of users will fall in between the companies younger Nickelodeon and older MTV audiences.

The Gen Z studio has produced Emmy-winning content and has a library with over 200 hours of TV series and feature films. It also has strong relationships with advertisers such as Hollister, Gatorade, Invisalign and Kraft.

Existing AwesomenessTV CEO Jordan Levin will depart the company as they will be integrated into Viacom’s Digital Studios division which is led by president Kelly Day. Levin will remain in his position during the transition period.

Viacom also acquired video creator conference VidCon earlier in the year, as well as influencer marketing firm Whosay.